John weichart



i aitrh gratte atat @fitta JOHN WEICHART, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Letters Patent No. 72,249, dated December I7, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN STRAWCUI"IEB..y

T0 ALL WIIOM IT MAY CONCEB-N: K

Be it known that I, JOHN WmcL'An'r, of San Francisco,.county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fibre-Cutting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanyingdrawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invcntionor improvement without further invention or experiment. v

The nature of my invention is to provide an improved" machine for cutting all kinds of flbrous material, but ehieliy for cutting tobacco, hay, straw, and corn-stalks, so constructed that it will be self-feeding, and the material be brought under the knife in a compa-ct form. In order to accomplish this, I employ a feed-box of any suitable dimensions, having asquare-edged iron or steel cutter-bar placed across the outlet. Above this is another bar, having upright pins surrounded by spiral springs, the pins moving up and down in holes on a. cross-plate. A corrugated roller, throiiigh which a rod passes, is placed across the machine, back of the knife, having at the end of the roller a toothed wheel, which a cam, placed upon a horizontal shaft, operates for turning the roller. Another cam is placed on the horizontal shaft, which gives ape'culiar motion to the knife in its i downward stroke. I

To more fully describe myrinvention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings and letters marked thereon, of which- Figure 1 is a side elevation. Figure 2 is a top view. Figure 3 is an end view with knife pressed down over the cutting-bar. Similar letters indicate like parts in each of the figures.

.A may represent a. suitable receptacle for most of the articles to be cut, across tho cutting-end of which is placed a bevelled bar or plate, a, having a square edge, over which the cutting-knife shuts. Above this plate is another plate, b,`which slides up and down in grooves made in the side of the machine. Two upright pins are attached to the plate, around which spiral-springs ccare placed, the pins moving in holes in an upper plate, b. Back of these plates is placed a corrugated feed-roller, B, operated by a wheel, C, on the end of ai rod which passes through it. Brackets or arms are attached to the side ofthe machine, which upholds a horizontalvshaft with two cams, one of which, D, engages'the teeth on C, which turns the corrugated feed-roller. The cam E is in the form of an ellipse, with edges bevelled, turning inward near the minor axes, so that when the cam presses' down the knife it will have a drawing movement and incline to the cutting-plate, instead of being forced away from it, as would be the case if theedges were square. A slight curve is made in the end of: the knifehar, along which the cam mores. The knife-bar F is jointed to the lower plate G by two arms,'d and d', the

lower arm, or cl', having a notch in it, against which one end of a steel spring, I-I, rests, the object of which is to throw back the knife after a downward stroke has been made. A

The operation of my machine is as follows, to wit: The material Ato be cut is fed.to the machine-after the manner of feeding hay or straw to a common feed-cutter, and is pressed up against the corrugated feed-roller, which carries it under the plate Z, which presses the fibres down compactly by means ofthe spiral springs e e, so that the knife, which is operated by the elliptical cam, in turning the horizontal shaft, will make a downward stroke. Each of the minor axes ofthe ellipse presses on the end of the knife-bar, and the stroke is made. The spring H will press against the arm d and throw the knife back to its original. posit/ion. If the friction ofthe arm E be found too great on the knife-bar, frictionrollers may be placed in each end of the ellipse, which will have a tendency to greatly facilitate the turning of the shaft.

By the use of my machine all fibrous material may be cut evenly and truly, with ease and dispatch, and more espdeially is it recommended to the manufacturers of fine-cut tobacco and s nuif.

Having thus described my invention, what Ivclaiin, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

.1. The manner of operating the feed-roller B by the toothed wheel C and cam D, substantially as and for the: purposes described.A l

2. The cam E, in combination with the arms d d', jointed to the knife, and the spring H, for throwing it back, substantially as described; and

The movable pressure-plate b, spiral springs c c, so that the material to be cut will be held rmly in place, substantially as described and shown.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set u y hand and seal.

i J. WEICHART. [15.. 8.] Witnesses:

C. W.. M. SMITH, J. L. BooNr. 

